The Aelf's Bloggery

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Writing for one's own amusement?

"Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and child birth. But amusing? Never." -Edna Ferber

The Rant 'N' Rave Section

I think Edna Ferber hit the nail on the head though there is a certain amount of amusement also inherent in writing. At least I find that to be so when it comes to fiction. In and amongst all of the aforementioned ditch-digging and all, I always find little veins of not only amusement, but sometimes amazement. Like when words flow onto my monitor with a brilliance that I know can't be mine or when a character I've worked long and hard on suddenly comes to life. Those times are, to me, magic.

Now if I could just control those moments. Maybe once just sit down and write a story without having to continually fight with that inner voice that says everything I write is junk. Maybe not let it get to me when I think of the massive amount of work I've yet to do in order to master the art of writing. Sometimes I get to a place where I think I should just walk away. Leave it. And I do but only for a few days. After being away from the keyboard for a while, the art calls to me. Softly at first, then louder and more insistent. The characters I've created, the imaginary realms and the magic moments when the words flow like molten silver all lure me back to them like treasures just waiting to be unearthed. Perhaps the most amusing part of it all is the fact that I'm incurably hooked. Oh well, guess I'll get back to working on my novel....

"TIDBITS"

In keeping with this month's rant I found the following good advice.

Show Up and Write Down the Flab
by Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ (shery AT writesparks.com)

Do you know why when some writers write, the words come easily?

Why it doesn't seem to require any effort at all for the words to take shape on the page?

Why their prose is almost fluid?

Why, when other writers may take seven, eight or nine drafts, it only takes them two or three drafts to the final draft?

The answer is simple: These writers keep showing up and writing.

They have made it a habit to show up on the page regularly -- whether it be every day or every other day or some other schedule.

Showing up and then writing means most of the time, you end up writing mostly flab -- excess fat.

You do not tone muscles and get a shapely and perfect body right after an hour of aerobics or tae-bo. It requires months and months of religiously following a regimen -- a balanced diet and continuous work outs.

Writing is no exception. It follows the same principle: you follow a writing regimen. You face the page no matter what. And you keep on writing down the flab, the awful stuff, the icky drafts.
Eventually, they will give way to the good stuff -- your prose becomes more textured, your voice clearer and more true.

Write as much and as often as you can, and never allow bad writing to stop you from writing.

Copyright © Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
About Shery: Shery is the creator of WriteSparks!™- a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks!™ Lite for free at http://writesparks.com

Last but Not Least
"I didn't know that!"
"Ambrose Gwinnet Bierce"

Vanished without a trace in 1913. No one knows what
became of him. See below.

Ambrose Gwinett Bierce , 1842-1914?, American satirist, journalist, and short-story writer, b. Meigs co., Ohio. After distinguished Civil War service, he turned to journalism. In San Francisco he wrote for the News-Letter, becoming its editor in 1868. He soon established a reputation as a satirical wit, and his waspish squibs and epigrams were much quoted. In London (1872-75), he wrote for the magazine Fun and finished three books, including Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (1874). After his return to San Francisco, he wrote for the Argonaut, edited the Wasp (1881-86), and was a columnist for Hearst's Sunday Examiner (1887-96); his writings in the Examiner made him the literary arbiter of the West Coast. Later he was Washington correspondent for the American and a contributor to Cosmopolitan.

Bierce's collection of sardonic definitions, The Cynic's Word Book (1906), was retitled The Devil's Dictionary in 1911. Often dark in tone, grisly or macabre in subject matter, and masterful in their spare language, his short stories were collected in such volumes as Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891) and Can Such Things Be? (1893). He was also highly praised for The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter (1892), which he adapted from a translation of a German story. Bierce's distinction lies in his distilled satire, in the crisp precision of his language, and in his realistically developed horror stories. Disillusionment and sadness pervaded the latter part of his life. In 1913 he went to Mexico, where all trace of him was lost.

Bibliography: See his Collected Works (12 vol., 1909-12; repr. 1966); Collected Writings (ed. by C. Fadiman, 1946); Phantoms of a Blood-Stained Period: The Complete Civil War Writings (ed. by R. Duncan and D. J. Klooster, 2002); biographies by R. O'Connor (1967) and R. Morris, Jr. (1996); studies by M. E. Grenander (1971), C. N. Davidson (1984), and R. Saunders (1984).
With thanks to High Beam Encyclopedia. http://www.encyclopedia.com
Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf

Sites to see, places to go and groups to join
Long Story Short:http://www.alongstoryshort.net/
My Writing Friend: writingfriend@yahoo.com
Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.
Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/
J.D.Vine Publishing: http://www.jdvine.com/
Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/
USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/
The Write Place: Poynter: 30 Writers Tips: http:www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=707

Freebie Writers Tools

Auto Crit Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/
Word Web download : http://www.wordweb.info/

I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.
Copyright © 03/17/08

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Seven Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp.

First I must aplolgize for not posting anything for two months. It's not that I didn't try to, it's that I couldn't. Every time I tried to post, I got an error message telling me my article was posted but with errors. When I checked to see if it was on line, NADA, nothing, blank, zip. I tried to figure it out ( that's what took so long) on my own. Finally, I called in the big guns, in this case Kathy at MyHelpHub.com. It was fixed in a flash. "Thanks Kathy." Now, on to the posting.

I thought I'd have lots of time to write over the last few months. I was sure that, with winters cold breath keeping me inside I could skip all the distractions that come with spring, summer and fall. WRONG! I found just as many distractions inside to keep me out of my writing chamber. Oh well, I did get a few short stories written and off to pubs. I also sent some out to contests. Speaking of which, I found a really good site that tracks upcoming contests. It's The Write Place-contests column by Kimn Swenson Gollnick. Now some of you may already know this site but for those who don't, check it out. The site has lots of goodies for new as well as published writers. Be sure to cruise the whole site, not just the contest listings. The web address is http://www.kimn.net/. I've also listed it at the bottom of the page under sites to see, places to go and groups to join.

Next, one of the hardest things for a new writer to overcome is lack of acknowledgment. It's the stuff that life is made of. It's that which tells us we live, we matter, we are noticed by others as being worthwhile. Without it we fade and shrivel up to nothing. Without it our works become meaningless as do our lives. So, how do new writers overcome that first hurdle on their way to success? A mule-stubborn mindset is the key. It doesn't help when friends and family tell you how good you are. Most of the time you know they are just being kind. It's only when, in and among all the rejection letters you get, you find one that says your work has been accepted. That is the key that unlocks the prison of lack of acknowledgment. That is the weapon that fights and conquers the self-doubt that permeates the minds of first time writers. That is the first big step along the path to becoming a pro. Okay, enough pontificating, on to Tidbits......

"TIDBITS"
Here's a helpful article I picked up in my surfing travels.

Seven Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

1. Keep it simple. "He said" and "She said" will usually do. Your reader is trained to
accept this repetition.

2. Forget you ever heard of strong verbs. Skip the "He yelped" and the "She sighed."
They slow your dialogue down. If you feel need them, look at the words.the actual
dialogue. your character used when he was yelping. Maybe it doesn’t reflect the way
someone would sound if he yelped. Maybe if you strengthen the dialogue, you can ditch
the overblown tag.

3. When you can, reveal who is saying something by the voice or tone of the dialogue.
That way you may be able to skip tags occasionally, especially when you have only two
people speaking to one another. Your dialogue will ring truer, too.
4. Avoid having characters use other characters’ names. In real life, we don’t use people’s
names in our speech much. We tend to reserve using names for when we’re angry or
disapproving or we just met in a room full of people and we’re practicing out social skills.
Having a character direct her speech to one character or another by using her name is a
lazy writer’s way of directing dialogue and it will annoy the reader. When a reader is
annoyed, she will not be immersed in the story you are trying to tell.

5. Avoid putting internal dialogue in italics. Trust your reader. She will know who is
thinking the words from the point of view of the narrative.

6. Be cautious about using dialogue to tell something that should be shown. It doesn’t
help much to transfer telling from the narrator to the dialogue. It just makes the character
who is speaking sound long winded. Putting quotation marks around exposition won’t
draw the reader into the scene or involve him more than if you’d left it part of the
narrative.

7. And magic number seven is, don’t break up dialogue sequences with long or overly
frequent blocks of narrative. One of dialogue’s greatest advantages is that it moves a story
along. If a writer inserts too much stage direction, it will lose the forward motion and
any tension it is building.

For more on writing dialogue check out Tom Chiarella’s Writing Dialogue (Writers’
Digest) and for more on editing in general.from editing query letters to turning
unattractive adverbs into metaphoric gold.find The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book
Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success on Amazon.
----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writer's Program. The first book
in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books, The Frugal Book Promoter, won USA Book News'
Seven Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, 478 words 2
Best Professional Book Award and Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award. The
second, The Frugal Editor, was just released and includes many editing tips on dialogue, the use
of quotation marks and more. Learn more at www.howtodoitfrugally.com .

Last but Not Least
"I didn't know that!"

"Sax Rohmer"

Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (February 15,1883-June 1 ,1959 ), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is most remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.

Born in Birmingham, he had an entirely working class education and early career before beginning to write. His first published work was in 1903, the short story The Mysterious Mummy for Pearson's Weekly. He made his early living writing comedy sketches for music hall performers and short stories and serials for magazines. In 1909 he married Rose Knox. He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910 and the first Fu Manchu story, The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, was serialized over 1912-13. It was an immediate success with its fast paced story of Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with those featuring Gaston Max or Morris Klaw, made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid writers in of the 1920s and 1930s. But Rohmer was very poor at handling his wealth. After World War II the Rohmers moved to New York.
Ward was often attacked, even shortly after the Manchu stories were published, for creating a character that reflected "racist assumptions". He himself, while "bemused" at the furore, occasionally defended his character by saying that the portrait was "fundamentally truthful" because "criminality was often rampant among the Chinese", especially in Limehouse.
Rohmer died in 1959, somewhat ironically, due to an outbreak of Asian Flu.
*Thanks to Wikipedia for the above.

Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf

Sites to see, places to go and groups to join

Long Story Short: http://www.alongstoryshort.net/
My Writing Friend: writingfriend@earthlink.net
Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.
Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/
J.D.Vine Publishing: http://www.jdvine.com/index.html
Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/
USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/
The Write Place, Poynter, 30 Writers Tips : http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=5408

Freebie Writers Tools

Auto Crit Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/
Word Web download : http://www.wordweb.info/

I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.
Copyright © 05/01/08

Labels: Tips, Tools, Writers Dialogue

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Seven Tips about Dialogue

The Rant 'N' Rave Section

Next, one of the hardest things for a new writer to overcome is lack of acknowledgment. It's the stuff that life is made of. It's that which tells us we live, we matter, we are noticed by others as being worthwhile. Without it we fade and shrivel up to nothing. Without it our works become meaningless as do our lives. So, how do new writers overcome that first hurdle on their way to success? A mule-stubborn mindset is the key. It doesn't help when friends and family tell you how good you are. Most of the time you know they are just being kind. It's only when, in and among all the rejection letters you get, you find one that says your work has been accepted. That is the key that unlocks the prison of lack of acknowledgment. That is the weapon that fights and conquers the self-doubt that permeates the minds of first time writers. That is the first big step along the path to becoming a pro. Okay, enough pontificating, on to Tidbits......

"TIDBITS"

Here's a helpful article I picked up in my surfing travels.
Seven Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
1. Keep it simple. "He said" and "She said" will usually do. Your reader is trained to
accept this repetition.
2. Forget you ever heard of strong verbs. Skip the "He yelped" and the "She sighed."
They slow your dialogue down. If you feel need them, look at the words.the actual
dialogue. your character used when he was yelping. Maybe it doesn’t reflect the way
someone would sound if he yelped. Maybe if you strengthen the dialogue, you can ditch
the overblown tag.
3. When you can, reveal who is saying something by the voice or tone of the dialogue.
That way you may be able to skip tags occasionally, especially when you have only two
people speaking to one another. Your dialogue will ring truer, too.
4. Avoid having characters use other characters’ names. In real life, we don’t use people’s
names in our speech much. We tend to reserve using names for when we’re angry or
disapproving or we just met in a room full of people and we’re practicing out social skills.
Having a character direct her speech to one character or another by using her name is a
lazy writer’s way of directing dialogue and it will annoy the reader. When a reader is
annoyed, she will not be immersed in the story you are trying to tell.
5. Avoid putting internal dialogue in italics. Trust your reader. She will know who is
thinking the words from the point of view of the narrative.
6. Be cautious about using dialogue to tell something that should be shown. It doesn’t
help much to transfer telling from the narrator to the dialogue. It just makes the character
who is speaking sound long winded. Putting quotation marks around exposition won’t
draw the reader into the scene or involve him more than if you’d left it part of the
narrative.
7. And magic number seven is, don’t break up dialogue sequences with long or overly
frequent blocks of narrative. One of dialogue’s greatest advantages is that it moves a story
along. If a writer inserts too much stage direction, it will lose the forward motion and
any tension it is building.
For more on writing dialogue check out Tom Chiarella’s Writing Dialogue (Writers’
Digest) and for more on editing in general.from editing query letters to turning
unattractive adverbs into metaphoric gold.find The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book
Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success on Amazon.
----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writer's Program. The first book
in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books, The Frugal Book Promoter, won USA Book News'
Seven Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, 478 words 2
Best Professional Book Award and Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award. The
second, The Frugal Editor, was just released and includes many editing tips on dialogue, the use
of quotation marks and more. Learn more at www.howtodoitfrugally.com .

Last but Not Least

"I didn't know that!"
"Sax Rohmer"

Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf

Sites to see, places to go and groups to join
Long Story Short:http://www.alongstoryshort.net/
My Writing Friend: writingfriend@earthlink.net
Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.
Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/
J.D.Vine Publishing:
Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/
USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/
The Write Place:
Poynter: 30 Writers Tips

Freebie Writers Tools
Auto Crit Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/Word Web download :Word Web
I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.Copyright © 03/17/08

"Writing is the voice that calls us from dreams, that peeks out of the corner of our eyes when we think no one is looking, the longing that breaks out hearts even when we think we should be happiest, and to which we cannot give a name." Judy Collins (1939) U.S. Folk Singer, Film Maker….
The Rant 'N' Rave Section
I thought I'd have lots of time to write over the last few months. I was sure that, with winters cold breath keeping me inside I could skip all the distractions that come with spring, summer and fall. WRONG! I found just as many distractions inside to keep me out of my writing chamber. Oh well, I did get a few short stories written and off to pubs. I also sent some out to contests. Speaking of which, I found a really good site that tracks upcoming contests. It's The Write Place-contests column by Kimn Swenson Gollnick. Now some of you may already know this site but for those who don't, check it out. The site has lots of goodies for new as well as published writers. Be sure to cruise the whole site, not just the contest listings. The web address is http://www.kimn.net . I've also listed it at the bottom of the page under sites to see, places to go and groups to join.
Next, one of the hardest things for a new writer to overcome is lack of acknowledgment. It's the stuff that life is made of. It's that which tells us we live, we matter, we are noticed by others as being worthwhile. Without it we fade and shrivel up to nothing. Without it our works become meaningless as do our lives. So, how do new writers overcome that first hurdle on their way to success? A mule-stubborn mindset is the key. It doesn't help when friends and family tell you how good you are. Most of the time you know they are just being kind. It's only when, in and among all the rejection letters you get, you find one that says your work has been accepted. That is the key that unlocks the prison of lack of acknowledgment. That is the weapon that fights and conquers the self-doubt that permeates the minds of first time writers. That is the first big step along the path to becoming a pro. Okay, enough pontificating, on to Tidbits......
"TIDBITS"
Here's a helpful article I picked up in my surfing travels.
Seven Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
1. Keep it simple. "He said" and "She said" will usually do. Your reader is trained to
accept this repetition.
2. Forget you ever heard of strong verbs. Skip the "He yelped" and the "She sighed."
They slow your dialogue down. If you feel need them, look at the words.the actual
dialogue. your character used when he was yelping. Maybe it doesn’t reflect the way
someone would sound if he yelped. Maybe if you strengthen the dialogue, you can ditch
the overblown tag.
3. When you can, reveal who is saying something by the voice or tone of the dialogue.
That way you may be able to skip tags occasionally, especially when you have only two
people speaking to one another. Your dialogue will ring truer, too.
4. Avoid having characters use other characters’ names. In real life, we don’t use people’s
names in our speech much. We tend to reserve using names for when we’re angry or
disapproving or we just met in a room full of people and we’re practicing out social skills.
Having a character direct her speech to one character or another by using her name is a
lazy writer’s way of directing dialogue and it will annoy the reader. When a reader is
annoyed, she will not be immersed in the story you are trying to tell.
5. Avoid putting internal dialogue in italics. Trust your reader. She will know who is
thinking the words from the point of view of the narrative.
6. Be cautious about using dialogue to tell something that should be shown. It doesn’t
help much to transfer telling from the narrator to the dialogue. It just makes the character
who is speaking sound long winded. Putting quotation marks around exposition won’t
draw the reader into the scene or involve him more than if you’d left it part of the
narrative.
7. And magic number seven is, don’t break up dialogue sequences with long or overly
frequent blocks of narrative. One of dialogue’s greatest advantages is that it moves a story
along. If a writer inserts too much stage direction, it will lose the forward motion and
any tension it is building.
For more on writing dialogue check out Tom Chiarella’s Writing Dialogue (Writers’
Digest) and for more on editing in general.from editing query letters to turning
unattractive adverbs into metaphoric gold.find The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book
Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success on Amazon.
----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writer's Program. The first book
in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books, The Frugal Book Promoter, won USA Book News'
Seven Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, 478 words 2
Best Professional Book Award and Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award. The
second, The Frugal Editor, was just released and includes many editing tips on dialogue, the use
of quotation marks and more. Learn more at www.howtodoitfrugally.com .
Last but Not Least
"I didn't know that!"
"Sax Rohmer"
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (February 15,1883-June 1 ,1959 ), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is most remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.
Born in Birmingham, he had an entirely working class education and early career before beginning to write. His first published work was in 1903, the short story The Mysterious Mummy for Pearson's Weekly. He made his early living writing comedy sketches for music hall performers and short stories and serials for magazines. In 1909 he married Rose Knox. He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910 and the first Fu Manchu story, The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, was serialized over 1912-13. It was an immediate success with its fast paced story of Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with those featuring Gaston Max or Morris Klaw, made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid writers in of the 1920s and 1930s. But Rohmer was very poor at handling his wealth. After World War II the Rohmers moved to New York.
Ward was often attacked, even shortly after the Manchu stories were published, for creating a character that reflected "racist assumptions". He himself, while "bemused" at the furore, occasionally defended his character by saying that the portrait was "fundamentally truthful" because "criminality was often rampant among the Chinese", especially in Limehouse.
Rohmer died in 1959, somewhat ironically, due to an outbreak of Asian Flu.
*Thanks to Wikipedia for the above.
Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf
Sites to see, places to go and groups to join
Long Story Short:http://www.alongstoryshort.net/
My Writing Friend: writingfriend@earthlink.net
Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.
Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/
J.D.Vine Publishing:
Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/
USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/
The Write Place:
Poynter: 30 Writers Tips
Freebie Writers Tools
Auto Crit Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/Word Web download :Word Web
I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.Copyright © 03/17/08

Sunday, March 23, 2008

"Acknlwledgement, or the lack thereof"

"Writing is the voice that calls us from dreams, that peeks out of the corner of our eyes when we think no one is looking, the longing that breaks out hearts even when we think we should be happiest, and to which we cannot give a name." Judy Collins (1939) U.S. Folk Singer, Film Maker….

The Rant 'N' Rave Section

I thought I'd have lots of time to write over the last few months. I was sure that, with winters cold breath keeping me inside I could skip all the distractions that come with spring, summer and fall. WRONG! I found just as many distractions inside to keep me out of my writing chamber. Oh well, I did get a few short stories written and off to pubs. I also sent some out to contests. Speaking of which, I found a really good site that tracks upcoming contests. It's The Write Place-contests column by Kimn Swenson Gollnick. Now some of you may already know this site but for those who don't, check it out. The site has lots of goodies for new as well as published writers. Be sure to cruise the whole site, not just the contest listings. The web address is http://www.kimn.net/. I've also listed it at the bottom of the page under sites to see, places to go and groups to join.

Next, one of the hardest things for a new writer to overcome is lack of acknowledgment. It's the stuff that life is made of. It's that which tells us we live, we matter, we are noticed by others as being worthwhile. Without it we fade and shrivel up to nothing. Without it our works become meaningless as do our lives. So, how do new writers overcome that first hurdle on their way to success? A mule-stubborn mindset is the key. It doesn't help when friends and family tell you how good you are. Most of the time you know they are just being kind. It's only when, in and among all the rejection letters you get, you find one that says your work has been accepted. That is the key that unlocks the prison of lack of acknowledgment. That is the weapon that fights and conquers the self-doubt that permeates the minds of first time writers. That is the first big step along the path to becoming a pro. Okay, enough pontificating, on to Tidbits......

"TIDBITS"

Here's a helpful article I picked up in my surfing travels.

Seven Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

1. Keep it simple. "He said" and "She said" will usually do. Your reader is trained to accept this repetition.

2. Forget you ever heard of strong verbs. Skip the "He yelped" and the "She sighed."
They slow your dialogue down. If you feel need them, look at the words.the actual
dialogue. your character used when he was yelping. Maybe it doesn’t reflect the way
someone would sound if he yelped. Maybe if you strengthen the dialogue, you can ditch
the overblown tag.

3. When you can, reveal who is saying something by the voice or tone of the dialogue.
That way you may be able to skip tags occasionally, especially when you have only two
people speaking to one another. Your dialogue will ring truer, too.

4. Avoid having characters use other characters’ names. In real life, we don’t use people’s names in our speech much. We tend to reserve using names for when we’re angry or disapproving or we just met in a room full of people and we’re practicing out social skills. Having a character direct her speech to one character or another by using her name is a lazy writer’s way of directing dialogue and it will annoy the reader. When a reader is annoyed, she will not be immersed in the story you are trying to tell.

5. Avoid putting internal dialogue in italics. Trust your reader. She will know who is thinking the words from the point of view of the narrative.

6. Be cautious about using dialogue to tell something that should be shown. It doesn’t help much to transfer telling from the narrator to the dialogue. It just makes the character who is speaking sound long winded. Putting quotation marks around exposition won’t draw the reader into the scene or involve him more than if you’d left it part of the narrative.

7. And magic number seven is, don’t break up dialogue sequences with long or overly
frequent blocks of narrative. One of dialogue’s greatest advantages is that it moves a story along. If a writer inserts too much stage direction, it will lose the forward motion and any tension it is building. For more on writing dialogue check out Tom Chiarella’s Writing Dialogue (Writers’Digest) and for more on editing in general.from editing query letters to turning unattractive adverbs into metaphoric gold.find The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success on Amazon.
----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writer's Program. The first book
in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books, The Frugal Book Promoter, won USA Book News'Seven Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, 478 words 2
Best Professional Book Award and Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award. The second, The Frugal Editor, was just released and includes many editing tips on dialogue, the use of quotation marks and more. Learn more at www.howtodoitfrugally.com .

Last but Not Least:

"I didn't know that!"

"Sax Rohmer"

Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (February 15,1883-June 1 ,1959 ), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is most remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.
Born in Birmingham, he had an entirely working class education and early career before beginning to write. His first published work was in 1903, the short story The Mysterious Mummy for Pearson's Weekly. He made his early living writing comedy sketches for music hall performers and short stories and serials for magazines. In 1909 he married Rose Knox. He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910 and the first Fu Manchu story, The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, was serialized over 1912-13. It was an immediate success with its fast paced story of Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with those featuring Gaston Max or Morris Klaw, made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid writers in of the 1920s and 1930s. But Rohmer was very poor at handling his wealth. After World War II the Rohmers moved to New York.

Ward was often attacked, even shortly after the Manchu stories were published, for creating a character that reflected "racist assumptions". He himself, while "bemused" at the furore, occasionally defended his character by saying that the portrait was "fundamentally truthful" because "criminality was often rampant among the Chinese", especially in Limehouse.

Rohmer died in 1959, somewhat ironically, due to an outbreak of Asian Flu.

*Thanks to Wikipedia for the above.

Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf

Sites to see, places to go and groups to join

Long Story Short:http://www.alongstoryshort.net/
My Writing Friend: writingfriend@earthlink.net
Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.
Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/
J.D.Vine Publishing. : http://www.jdvine.com
Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/
USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/
The Write Place: http://www.kimn.net
Poynter: 30 Writers Tips

Freebie Writers Tools

Auto Crit Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/
Word Web download :Word Web

I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.Copyright © 03/17/08

Friday, February 01, 2008

Writer's classes and workshops

"Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you're doomed."
Ray Bradbury

The Rant 'N' Rave Section

Well, 2008's started with a bang. My short story, Anasazi Moon, is now in print! For those of you who would like a great read check out JD Vine Publishing: http:www.jdvine.com. The book is called The Creative Writer series book 2, Quaquay's Birthday and Uncharted Life with other stories and poems. My story, Anasazi Moon, is one of the "other stories" in this book. The price is $13.99 U.S. and only 6.5828GBP or 8.81454EUR. There, you've got the conversions, why wait, you can't find a better deal than that. Note that shipping and handling are free even to Europe for those of you who would like it but think the postage would be too much. I checked with the publisher to make sure that they hadn't made a mistake when I first saw it, but no, it's truly free shipping. The book is also on the shelf at Amazon.com and B.Dalton among others but I don't think they offer free postage.
Okay, enough promo of my stuff, on to what's new and exciting.

Check this out. Outstanding software for writing a novel.

I recently found a new online software program that seems to be the best I've used so far. As you may know I use Open Office (instead of MS Word) and Liquid Story Binder when I write. While casting about on the net for a good freebie time line software program I ran across StoryRight, an on line program. Now I usually don't care much for on line software, I like to have it loaded into my hard drive, it just seems better to me for some reason, BUT, I was intrigued when I noticed that an aspect of the program was the ability to interview each character. Well, being as trying out the software program is FREE, I thought I'd give it a go. WOW! I'm impressed. I'm starting to work on a new novel based on my original short story, Savannah, and decided to use StoryRight. It's a perfect fit for me. It does three major things that I always have trouble with:

1.The Story Plan: Handles all vital details about plot, themes and settings.
2.Story Outline: A full outline organized chapter by chapter and scene by scene.
3.Character Dossiers: For each character, a full dossier is generated automatically.
(This feature allows the author to inteview his potential character
with a list of questions.)

Rather than my going into long boring details about it, suffice it to say that it is now my primary software for creating stories. For more information and to give it a trial spin, go to: http://www.storyright.com. Note: Though the first trial run is free, It costs $4.95 U.S. to use it for a month. Then it's about $12.95 per year OR $49.00 approx. for a lifetime membership. I am usually turned off by software that is free trial, then a fee, but this is an exception. As it is the best writing tool I've yet to find, IMHO it's well worth every penny. I've paid my $4.95 for the first month to give it a real workout but, unless I find something that I can't live with, I'll be signing up for my lifetime membership.

Finally, here's a great little freebie from last month called Motivator Software.

MOTIVATOR SOFTWARE

Here’s how it works. You start by simply installing the Motivator software onto your computer. Then, like the samples below, you provide it with a series of messages that help you to remember your goal...
I am achieving my goal of eating healthy foods.
Take five deep, long breaths... NOW!
I have fully released my old addictions.
I am enjoying my smoke-free lungs!
SMILE!
I have great posture. Sit up straight!
I am super-focused and in The Zone!
Take five minutes right now to appreciate life.
I am using today to demonstrate how patient I am.
In business, I focus on making money.
Of course, these are all pretty generic. Your goals as a writer may be a LOT more specific.
Then you just let Motivator run silently in the background of your PC. At set intervals, Motivator will remind you of your goals.
The messages appear a little like one of those instant messenger popups that tells you a friend has just logged on. But instead, the Motivator software will be shifting you ONE STEP CLOSER toward your desires.
Like that stone in your shoe, Motivator makes itself noticed, and helps keep YOUR GOALS fresh in YOUR MIND.
And within an average of TWO SHORT WEEKS, you’ll have adopted that positive behavior pattern as a NEW HABIT.
"... All THANKS to the POWER of PROGRAMMED REHEARSAL." Sound interesting? Check my website, http://www.aelfbooks.com/ under "Good Stuff" which is where you will find links to writer oriented freebies.

"TIDBITS"

I take writer's classes every time I can afford one. The more, the better. The most obvious benefit is that I hone my skills as a writer. There are other, less obvious benefits also. Being enrolled in a class puts the brakes on any lazy streak I might fall into. It keeps me writing. It also is an external validation and critique of my work. Learning is, to me, a trial and error process, one where I reap the most benefit by having an instructor reviewing what I do and guiding me toward that elusive plateau of mastery.

I recently took a small class on creating characters called "Who is that person,? Developing four dimensional characters." by Dorry Pease. It's an inexpensive five week course that I found to be excellent. The critiques I received after each lesson were clear, concise and, in some cases, eye opening.

I found this class through my association with Long Story Short, an Ezine for writers. Part of the Ezine is The Long Story Short School of Writing. Tons of courses are offered, courses that won't be found anywhere else on the net. LSS can be found at http://www.alongstoryshort.net/. See also link at bottom of page. This was the first writers site that I joined. Directly or indirectly the school, along with the writers group I belong to which is part of it (see My Writing Friend link below), are responsible for my being published. Of course, I had something to do with it also but they supplied the foundation as support for me to continue. Okay, you've got the picture. They're great! Check 'em out!

Last but Not Least
"I didn't know that! Bits about the Bard"

Here's a couple of facts regarding Shakespeare I stumbled across on www.cummingsstudygiudes.net . There's more for those interested, just click on the link.

1) Moons of the planet Uranus are named after characters in Shakespeare's plays. For example, two moons discovered in 1787 were named Oberon and Titania, after characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream. A moon discovered in 1986 was named Juliet, after a character in Romeo and Juliet. Two moons discovered in 1997 were named Caliban and Sycorax, after characters in The Tempest.

2) The ceiling of Shakespeare's stages was called "The Heavens."

3) Shakespeare and other writers of his time probably did most of their writing during the day to avoid paying for the expensive candles required for nighttime writing.

Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf

Sites to see, places to go and groups to join

Long Story Short: http://www.alongstoryshort.net/
My Writing Friend: mailto:writingfriend@yahoo.com

Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.
Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/

J.D.Vine Publishing: http://www.jdvine.com/
Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/

USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/
Poynter: 30 Writers Tips: http://http//web.archive.org/web/20060622070944/poynteronline.org/content/content_view.asp?id=707

Freebie Writers Tools

Auto Crit Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/
Word Web download :Word Web

I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.
Copyright © 02/01/08

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Motivate and enhance your creativity

“Writing is the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.” Olin Miller

The Rant 'N' Rave Section

Happy New Year all! May your writing be published, may your days be filled with purpose and may your year be prosperous and filled with joy! I must admit that I was a baaaaaad blogger over the Christmas holidays, as a matter of fact, I used most of December as an excuse not to write. You know, the old "I'm too busy, too many interruptions, too many guests in the house, too distracting and all that rot. I trust that you all did a lot better.

Now to the New Years Resolutions. Last year I promised myself I would get at least one little short story published. I did. This year I will tackle the dread novel. I will also attempt to find an editor that can help me with my final drafts. That is something that, to me, is quite daunting but, onward and upward. What about you? Hmmmm.

I've found a few things to pass along to you to kick off '08'. First is a little site that I've been using for a while to see if I like it. It's called Wridea. The thought behind it is that it would be great if we, as writers, had a convenient place to store our ideas, other than on assorted bits and scraps of paper. Mine wind up getting lost or thrown out. Well, Wridea has come up with a great solution that allows one to record their ideas by email.

They've created an Ideaboard that is set up so that it lists the title of each idea. When you click on the title, it brings up a box with any details or notes that you've added. The thing that makes this site outstanding, IMHO, is that adding new ideas to the ideaboard is a snap. All you do is send an email to your free Wridea default inbox.

When you send it a new idea is created. The email subject becomes the title and the email body becomes the description. It's quick, it's easy and best of all, it's FREE! Whenever I come up with an idea that might make an interesting story, I email it to my mailbox at Wridea. Then, when casting about for something to kickstart a new story, I head for my Wridea. See bottom of page for a link to Wridea. Next is Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ's article on creativity.

5 Ways to Enhance Your Creativity

1. Surprise Your Mind. List laughable, ridiculous, outrageous and bizarre ideas. Don't limit yourself to ideas that other people consider "sane," "reasonable" or "logical." The best and most creative ideas stem from silly ones. When you're in a creative mode, you're suspending judgment on ideas you generate. You simply list them all down and never worry whether they make sense or not. Allow yourself the freedom to think outside the box.

2. Aim for Quantity. Generate loads of ideas for you to go through later. It's normal that your first few ideas won't really be fresh. The gems will come out later so it's important to keep going. With a large list of ideas, you'll have more to choose from, adapt or combine. Creativity is not coming up with something new from nothing; creativity is the ability to create something novel from ideas/things that already exist by combining, improving or refining them.

3. Be Playful. A relaxed and playful attitude fosters creativity. Those creative juices flow best when you're not restrained by your logical, left brain. Toy with ideas and forget about being too careful. Be a child again and play.

4. Believe that Everything has a Solution. An optimistic outlook always leads to solutions, no matter how impossible a problem or task may be. Often when a solution can't be found, all that's needed is for the problem to be redefined. Or when you think you're stumped, surprise your mind with silly solutions then work backwards, leading to the original problem. Cultivate an attitude of continuing search for solutions.

5. Let Go of Your Fear of Failure. Don't expect to do something perfectly for the first time. Thomas Edison tried about 1800 things for the perfect filament for the incandescent lamp. Fear of failure is one of the major factors that can hinder your creativity. Instead of looking at failed attempts negatively, look at your failures as learning opportunities. Failing isn't fun, but neither is doing.

Copyright © Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
About Shery: Shery is the creator of WriteSparks!™- a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks!™ Lite for free at http://writesparks.com/

Finally, here's a great little freebie called Motivator Software.

MOTIVATOR SOFTWARE

Here’s how it works. You start by simply installing the Motivator software onto your computer. Then, like the samples below, you provide it with a series of messages that help you to remember your goal...

I am achieving my goal of getting my works published.
Take five deep, long breaths... NOW!
I write from 3:am to 8:am daily, that is my work shedule.
SMILE!
I write, therefore I am!
I am super-focused and in The Zone!
In my business as a writer, I focus on making money.

Of course, these are all ones that I use. Your goals as a writer may be a LOT more specific.
Then you just let Motivator run silently in the background of your PC. At set intervals, Motivator will remind you of your goals.
The messages appear a little like one of those instant messenger popups that tells you a friend has just logged on. But instead, the Motivator software will be shifting you ONE STEP CLOSER toward your desires.

Like that stone in your shoe, Motivator makes itself noticed, and helps keep YOUR GOALS fresh in YOUR MIND.

And within an average of TWO SHORT WEEKS, you’ll have adopted that positive behavior pattern as a NEW HABIT. Did I mention that it's FREE?
Sound interesting? Check my website, http://www.aelfbooks.com/ under "Good Stuff" which is where you will find links to writer oriented freebies.

"TIDBITS"

In the last posting of Tidbits I mentioned a new freebie software reader that I was going to try out. Well, it's okay, not great but okay. There are words it doesn't recognize and it tries to pronounce them anyway. This comes out as an unintelligible mumble. Other than that it's pretty good. I'll continue to use it to help me edit my stories. I find that I can pick up on mistakes a lot easier if the story is read to me. My reading it out loud makes me feel a bit foolish.

Last but Not Least

"I didn't know that!"

Recently I read a posting on Interesting Facts about Earle Stanly Gardner (Perry Mason), on http://www.phantoms.com/. Gardner decided to write 66,000 words a week figure after reading the work of a fiction writer whose writing he admired and who preceded Gardner by several decades. William Wallace Cook was a prolific writer of pulp fiction who wrote between 1889 and his death in 1933. He managed to regularly turn out 66,000 words a week. If anyone could have been considered Gardner's mentor during his early pulp-writing days, it was Cook. Cook maintained in his book The Fiction Factory (1912) that "if the product is good, it passes at face value and becomes a medium of exchange."

"and I try to get out a pitiful thousand words or so, Hmmmm...."

Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf

Sites to see, places to go and groups to join

My Writing Friend: writingfriend@earthlink.net

Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.

Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/

My Favorite Publisher: J.D.Vine Publishing

Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/

USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/

Poynter: 30 Writers Tips

Freebie Writers Tools

Auto Crit Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/

Word Web download :Word Web

I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.Copyright © 01/05/08

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Plots, It's all just a big plot anyway.

"Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing."- Margaret Chittenden.

The Rant 'N' Rave Section

"Plots"

"Go figure," One of the biggest stumbling blocks I ran into when I first courageously took up pen in hand, (or was it key in finger?) was the mystery of plot. Oh sure, I've read jillions of books. I presumed that cooking up a good plot would come easily to me, after all, I'd read a ton of books and in some cases, had the plot figured out long before I got to the last page. Well, wrong wrong wrong. Looking back my approach to writing now reminds me of a (paraphrased) saying by Jim Bishop.

"A good reader is not necessarily a good writer-no more so than a good drunk is automatically a bartender."

I wrote three or four short stories (read as attempted to write). It finally dawned on me as I wallowed in the mire of disjointed and nonsensical plots I had concocted, that help might be just as close as my keyboard. I limbered up my trusty key finger and surfed to see what I could find. One of the best things I found was a 10 Point Plotting Checklist. I don't know who came up with this or I would give them credit for it. It's the best checklist and the meanest critic I've yet to run into.

10 Point Plotting Checklist
1.A main character actively and emotionally involved in resolving a conflict?
2.A conflict important enough to hold the readers interest? Introduced early?
3.Age appropriate features, including length, characters and situations?
4.Sufficient motivation for the protagonists? Is it clear to the reader why the outcome or the story is important to the main character?
5.Several varied scenes that provide forward motion to the plot?
6.A logical basis for characters behavior, as well as a natural cause and effect sequence of events?
7.A unified plot that does not wander into unrelated territory?
8.Chronology that will be easy for the reader to follow?
9.A believable and satisfying climax brought about by the main character?
10.All crucial loose ends tied up by the end, including those introduced in secondary plots?

As I mentioned earlier, this checklist is a mean critic. I can't count the times I've merrily been typing along, pleased at my writing skill and story telling prowess, only to turn to this checklist and find I've missed an important step. Oh well, back to the old drawing board.

News Flash: One of my favorite publishers has a new blog that they've started recently. Sarah M. Gibson writes the blog while Jared D.Vineyard edits it and provides many of the tips. Can't beat that, where better to get tips than from a publisher. They'll be adding new tips from time to time so do check it out. I added tips one and two in my last blog. Here is the beginning of tip #3:

"The tips so far have been about character. Of course, you can't truly know your character without knowing the places that they come from. Where a character grows up helps shape who they are, whether it's tough inner city streets of New York in the 1980's or the large home of a rural farming family on an alien planet int the year 3085.........

Want more?? Just go to: J.D.Vine Publishing and click on "blog" or use the link at the bottom of the page.

Well, that's it for this issues Rant n Rave section, on to Tidbits.
***********************************************************************************
"TIDBITS"

I made a comment a while back about reading ones story aloud to check for errors and to see if the dialog was realistic or stilted. Some of us(read as me) feel a bit silly reading out loud, even in an empty room. I've just downloaded and new free program called "Natural Readers" that seems pretty good. I got the lead on this from The Hamilton Writers Guild in Hamilton Ohio. No, it's not the mechanical disjointed voice of most software readers. I'll be trying it out over the next week or two and will report on it at my next posting.
Now, on to Last but Not Least….

************************************************************************************

Last but Not Least

Did you know? That Charles Dickens favorite pets were birds.

"I didn't know that!" CNN posted this interesting tidbit: A number of pets graced the Dickens household over the years, including all manner of dogs, cats and ponies. But Charles' favorite pets were his two ravens, both known as Grip. Dickens was particularly devoted to Grip I, going so far as to write the bird into his 1841 mystery novel, Barnaby Rudge. This same talkative bird reportedly was the inspiration for Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, "The Raven," published four years later. Upon Grip I's demise, Dickens had his beloved bird stuffed. These days, Grip can be seen at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Rare Books Department, where he stands guard over the Poe and Dickens collections.

Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf

Sites to see, places to go and groups to join

My Writing Friend: writingfriend@earthlink.net
Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.
Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/
J.D.Vine Publishing: http://www.jdvine.com/
Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/
USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/
Poynter: 30 Writers Tips

Freebie Writers Tools

Auto Crit Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/
Word Web download : Word Web
I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.
Copyright © 11/18/07